Spain, as representing the royal house of Portugal, in whom the lineal heirs of the house of Lancaster were found:2dly, to the house of Scotland, represented by James the sixth; and 3dly, to lady Arabella Stuart both the last were descended from Margaret, the eldest daughter of Henry the seventh. Each has a place in the genealogy, contained in the 12th chapter of this work. Passing over James, on account of his religion, and because he was born in Scotland, and therefore an alien, the pretenders were reduced to the king of Spain, and to lady Arabella. To the Spanish line, the pope supposed the English would never submit. The lady Arabella consequently remained, and her, the duke of Parma should marry. Unfortunately, he happened to have a wife; but cardinal Farnese, his brother, had none. He therefore was to be secularized; and to him the lady Arabella was to give her hand. The king of Spain, probably with a very bad grace, was to submit to their union; but, after some difficulty both foreigners and subjects would bend the knee, and acknowledge Farnese and Arabella as sovereigns of the two thrones of England and Scotland. Even the king of France was to find his account in it; as a Bourbon could be alarmed at nothing so much as accession of strength to the house of Guise, to which James the first belonged, through his mother, the unfortunate queen. The talents of queen Elizabeth were not admired by Clement, so much as they had been by Sixtus quintus, his predecessor. Clement called her, "An old woman without a husband, and without a certain successor." He

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said she must, at that time, be straitened for money, on account of the greatness of her former expenses: "Neither you or I," said the pope to the cardinal,

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are so old, but that we may yet behold her sub"dued; England has been conquered often, and 66 may be conquered again." For the present, however, his holiness thought it would be most prudent to wait the queen's decease.

Under these impressions," the pope," says d'Ossat," has sent to his nuncio in the Low

Countries, three briefs, to be kept secret, until "he should be informed of the death of queen' "Elizabeth and then to be forwarded to England;

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one to the clergy, one to the nobility, and the "other to the third estate. By these, the three "states of England were exhorted to bind them"selves to receive a catholic king, whom the pope "should propose to them; and whom they would "find agreeable, profitable, and honourable; and "all for the glory and honour of God; for the res"toration of the catholic religion, and the salvation "of their souls." The cardinal proceeds to mention to the king the reply which he made to the pope; and offers several suggestions on the futility of the project.

His letter contains other interesting circumstances, which show how well the cardinal was informed of every thing that related to the matters in agitation. He describes the persons most active in the business; and an individual residing at Calais, through whom their correspondence was carried on.

The answer of the king is dated the 24th of December 1601, and shows good sense, a true spirit of justice, and great magnanimity. He treats the project of the pope as a perfect chimæra. He observes, that it is founded upon the hopes held out by exiles, promising more than they could perform; feeble instruments, doubtful friends, and dangerous advisers. The party of lady Arabella, his majesty pronounces to be very weak." The king of Scot"land," he adds, "is the right heir. I desire,

like his holiness, that the kingdom of England "should fall to the lot of a catholic prince; nor am "I ignorant of the reasons which should make me "wish that the crown of England should be kept

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separate from that of Scotland; or of those, which "should make me jealous of the connections which "the king of Scotland has in this country. But it "is an injustice to oppose what is just, and an im"prudence to engage in an undertaking, so little

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likely to succeed, as that which is proposed by the

pope.-This, my cousin, is what my confidence "in you, and my openness, have induced me to "write in answer to your letter.-You may make "what use of it you please. But my opinion is, "that as much as you can, you should keep the pope from opening himself to you respecting the "English succession."

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The king tells the cardinal, in another part of his letter," that the papal project would be attended "with consequences quite contrary to those which "the pope expected, and render the condition of "the catholics more miserable than ever, by making

"them take up arms in opposition to the laws of "the kingdom, and to the lawful succession of the "reigning monarch."

Such was the project, which, in the following reign, subjected the pope and the catholics to so much censure. The fact was, that though a family estate was never transmitted from father to son with greater ease than the crown of England passed, on the death of Elizabeth, from the house of Tudor to the house of Stuart, a different scene had been generally apprehended. It had been expected that many competitors to the throne would arise; and particularly it had been supposed, that the party, which had been principally instrumental in bringing Mary to the scaffold, would not quietly permit her son to ascend the throne. Those, it was thought, looked towards Arabella; and, being a catholic, her claims, it was imagined, would naturally be favoured by that party. These, as we have already observed, constituted, at the time of which we are speaking, the most numerous portion of the subjects of the realm. They considered themselves therefore entitled to a vote at the election, and the pope, seconding their views, claimed all their votes and interest 'for Arabella.

'It appears that there were two briefs only ;-one, directed to the arch-priest and clergy; the other, to the nobility and gentry of England. On the trial of father Garnet, which we shall afterwards have occasion to mention, sir Edward Coke represented them, as enjoining the catholics "not to "admit any person, how near soever upon the line

"to the throne, after the queen's death, unless such person would not only tolerate the catholic reli

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gion, but promote it to the utmost of his power; "and engage himself by oath, according to the "custom of his ancestors, for that purpose.' That these were the contents of the briefs, father Garnet did not deny. He admitted that they were transmitted to him, but he alleged, in his defence that he kept them secret, showed them to very few,and soon after the accession of James, committed them to the flames*. He also alleged, that both the pope and the superiors of his order earnestly recommended to the catholics to bear their sufferings with patience, and to abstain from violence of every kind. This is confirmed by the letters both of father Garnet and of father Parsons, produced by father Andreas Eudæmon, in his defence of Garnet.

CHAP. XXIII.

'JAMES I.

HIS DISPOSITIONS TOWARDS THE ENGLISH CATHOLICS AT THE TIME OF HIS ACCESSION TO THE THRONE.

1603.

ON the 14th March 1603, queen Elizabeth

died.

The writer has not discovered them in any Bullarium,